Soloing!!! - Page 2

gotmule? · #21 05-09-2008, 07:42 PM

Whenever I have a solo, I normally base it off the scale I'm playing in. For example, if my bassline is in the blues scale, my solo will be in that scale. This also probably depends on what type of music you play. When I take solos, it is usually on my band's jazz songs.

MarkTAW · #22 05-09-2008, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sirpug

Learn the circle of fifths!! This will help you with your solos and it will help you come up with more personalized bass lines during melodies by teaching you the relashonship between notes and chords. It's amazing what happens to a song when you start complementing the rhythm guitar instead of just playing along.

This site helped (hell, still is) me learn alot. The best one I could find. It's done by a piano teacher but it's the same for all music. http://www.circle-of-fifths.net/

The circle of fifths is all well & good, but I don't see that it has THAT much to do with what he wants to learn.

If you want to learn to solo, analyze great solos & great pieces of music.

kynoch · #23 05-10-2008, 02:18 AM

Dudes.....Thanks a lot...that has given me A LOT to be working on....man I need to sit down right now and practice!!!

Can people recommend and good solos that I could listen too????

thanks again

DudeistMonk · #24 05-12-2008, 08:46 AM

I dunno what type of music you listen to...

Flea has a few...Coffee Shop, Naked in the Rain...

The Live version I have of the Allman bros In Memory of Elizabeth Reed has a cool bass solo thats a good 45 seconds long.

Lol...those are the only three bass solos I can think of off the top of my head.

You could also always just listen to the bass greats, Jaco, Victor Wooten (Bela Fleck and The Flecktones). They have a lot of solo pieces and crazy lines/solos, but its hard to emulate them cause they are so sick.

Just J · #25 05-12-2008, 12:05 PM

Willie Weeks on "Voices Inside" off his Live disc. The solo is a few mins long and is a good example of progressing from a simple groove to more high energy high register stuff.

Also, check out cool guitar, piano or horn solos that catch your ear. They solo all day long, so you can probably cop some of their ideas, add a rhythmic feel to them and call it a day.

on1ne · #26 05-12-2008, 02:35 PM

A simple trick that is used in jazz a lot is to sneak in part of another melody.

It's easy to do and doesn't really require much skill. You just need to plan ahead a bit unless you have done it a lot. The song you you are putting in doesn't need to be anything fancy or sophisticated. In fact the simpler and more recognizable the tune is, the better. Happy Birthday (especially if appropriate) La Cucaracha, any children's song, it doesn't matter and it gives the impression that you are clever and usually gets a smile or a laugh from anyone who picks up on it. If you have a holiday gig that has songs associated with it, Christmas, St patricks, etc, see if any of the tunes have a few bars that would fit in your solo space, guaranteed crowd pleaser. Of course you need to pay attention to key and to chord changes as they affect your solo, but very often you can find ways to make this work.

Another trick, not as hard as it appears, is to sing along with your solo George Benson/ Slam Stewart style. The solo need not be real fancy, your singing along with it is going to make it entertaining. With a little practice you may find you can do this with very little effort or planning, and it goes over very well.

BillyRay · #27 05-12-2008, 05:23 PM

Doctoring the bass line is quite good as was pointed out earlier. It gives you an opportunity to shine while still keeping the pocket and groove.

Another approach is like to take is the silent one. In my mind, one of the greatest guitar solo of all time is Alex Lifeson's "Limelight": it is simply a masterpiece and it is probably in the top 10 of most simple and easy to execute solo from Mr Lifeson. Why ? Because it uses silence (or rather wholenotes) to its advantage.

On bass, it is rare that a flurry of note sounds good or can be sang later on by the audience (a hallmark of a great solo, IMHO). This means that short burst of notes, syncopation and rythmn play are your friend. Make use of the groove, simplify it, complexify it, play around it. Many of the solos Ive taken in jazz are dead simple from an ahrmony perspective (altough I use simple melodies), yet they fit because I use silence as a tool.

Nothing better than a laid back, slow and dirty solo than comes to a halt and then hammers the listener's ear with a catchy melody.

PS: Harmony knowledge and arpegios are important but transcribing other's solo is just as important. Horn solos (or fills) are especially useful IMHO.

bassandbeyond · #28 05-12-2008, 07:44 PM

+1 on using silence

Just by taking a breath at the beginning of your solo, you immediately get everyone's attention...."Oh! The bass stopped! Something must be about to happen!" It also gives you some time to think about what to say, instead of heading straight to wanksville.

Another important skill for soloing is learning to NOT start on the root of every chord. Always starting on the root is a very ingrained habit for most bassists, but doesn't usually lead to constructing the most melodic lines. You could practice starting every chord on the 3rd or the 7th, for example. That should add more color.